The New Star Herder
by Lighted Candle
Summary: <html><head></head>Based on a prompt I made up. Prompt: What if Sandy accidentally interfered with Jack's creation unknowingly? An ancestor's magic awakens... Mainly a one-shot. Open for adoption.</html>


A New Star Herder

Disclaimer: I do not own Rise of the Guardians

Author's Note: A one shot I found written in the notes of another story

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Prompt: What if Sandy accidentally interfered with Jack's creation unknowingly? An ancestor's magic awakens...

(Sandy's sand isn't necessarily what he wants to say with pictures, but to one who can read 'light', Sandy's sand expresses his emotions too.)

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A strong, exceedingly bright moonbeam began to lift a boy out of frozen frigid waters. But then a thick river of floating dreamsand appeared from the east and drifted through the moonlight as it headed towards sleeping children. Instead of the moonlight's silver gleam becoming blocked, it brightened, becoming golden rather than silver. As soon as the boy was lifted out of the water, brown hair became white, glowing softly until the moonbeam set down the reawakened child onto the surface of the lake. When the moonbeam retreated, the hair stopped glowing. Not that the new spirit of winter noticed, having been picked up by the wind.

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Even though Manny never spoke to Jack again, his friendly moonbeams seemed drawn to the boy. Jack yelped as one particularly mischievous moonbeam tossed him into the grasp of another moonbeam, but it wasn't a regular 'toss'. Without flying, Jack had gone from above one particularly tall pine to above the cliff. At least the wind wasn't jealous. If anything she seemed amused and would rush to catch Jack before he could fall. Then again, there was always a slight breeze assigned to her child that made Jack hover before he could fall. Jack whooped in glee.

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Jack reached up and touched the golden sand and watched in awe as animals sprung out or the stream to prance around him. And not just dance, but Jack could ride or chase the semi-animate dreams. The first time he had played with the sand, he had met the Sandman. [scene- Jack instantly understands the pictionary game- Sandy marvels a little, not catching onto the fact that Jack is 'reading' his sand]

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It was a year after meeting Sandy that Jack tried to send his snowflakes out like Sanderson. He wasn't trying to cause a blizzard, just a directional light snowfall. It didn't work. After several months of trying to imitate Sandy's powers with his snow, Jack pouted at his latest failure. But as he played with the stream the next day, he wished he could bring dreams too. And lo and behold, golden drops dropped from his fingertips. Jack's blue eyes widened and after a couple of experiments, understood that the sand was called up by wishing it. It was less sand than light, but it was still dreamsand! The dream stream animals soaked up the golden liquid drops as if it were precious water in a desert. For a moment, Jack wondered if Sandy would be angry but the sandman didn't appear that night, so Jack guessed he didn't notice. Jack however did notice that the sand animals seemed to last a little longer from Sandy's regular dreams.

Gleeful but cautious about this ability, Jack only experimented around the other strands of sand, not wanting another unfriendly spirit to have additional reasons to pummelt him. Combining his Light-sand for the first time with the rivers of dreamsand brought Sandy speedily back to Jack's location. If it was anyone else Jack would have felt less eager and more nervous to share this power. But it was Sandy, so Jack skipped over to the questioning dreambringer.

"I've been working on something, did you feel it?"

Puzzled and curious, Sandy nodded. But Jack could read Sandy's sand or light and interpreted it as, "_Yes, I did._"

Jack glanced around, grinning the whole time, "Do you want to see it?" He whispered secretly.

A little amused and exasperated, Jack interpreted Sandy saying, "_Get on with it._"

Jack crouched down in courtesy for the other Spirit's shorter height. He then gathered his golden sand light into the pool of his hands, stunning Sandy so completely that Jack couldn't 'read' Sanderson's sand for the first time in their entire friendship. And it was always saying something. "I can't make dreams as well as you can. But it strengthens your dream animals. They last longer." Jack blurted in his anticipation for Sandy's follow-upreaction. What Jack was not expecting was the raw _awe_ that flowed into Sandy's dreamsand or the trickling happy tears (so much like the liquid light in Jack's hands) as Sandy hesitantly reached to touch it.

The Sandman's sand was now saying, "_Are you real? Is this real? Am I dreaming? Am I wishing?_" And various other overlapping humble and exited questions. And then Sandy touched the pooled light reverently and realized something. "_You're a newborn star herder?_" his sand whispered, "_Maybe you started out human. I would have known the first time we met otherwise._"

"I'm not big enough to be a star. What's a star herder? I'm not a newborn! And what do you mean I started out human? I was always like this since I came out of the lake." Jack blurted and met Sandy's startled eyes.

"_Can you read my sand? Not just guess?_" Sandy slowly flashed images above his head.

"Yeah, I have since I met you. I can understand moonbeams too!" Jack bounced on the tip of his toes, pleased with Sandy's reaction so far. Sandy's sand spiked in gibberish for a moment as Sandy suddenly started celebrating, dancing before hugging Jack. Jack's golden light fell and was absorbed into the other streams of dreams.

Sandy's sand expressed the words, "_I'm not alone,_" which struck a deep chord within Jack and so he hugged just enthusiastically back. It wasn't often that he got hugs. So far the list of whom Jack had gotten hugs like other children included the Wind, yeti, and now Sandy.

From Sandy's perspective, the only other star left was Manny, who was stuck on the moon. But unlike Nightlight, the Man in the Moon did not have the ability to spread dreamsand. That ability was reserved for wishing stars and star herders. (? info check?) When Nightlight gave Katherine the 'kiss of goodnight' and woke her from eternal nightmares, Nightlight had become mortal (an unfulfilled wish of Nightlight's until then). The star herder grew up, married Katherine, had a plethora of children, grew old and passed on. Those children had descendants and while they could not harness dreamsand like their ancestor did, perhaps Jack was the first of those descendants to become a Spirit, therefore having Nightlight's abilities.

Jack squirmed out of the hug, pulling something out of a pocket, "I made this for you as a 'thank you' for our friendship. We are friends aren't we?" Jack gripped his staff nervously as he watched Sandy inspect the tiny figurine made out of Jack's light and never melting ice. Sandy beamed up at Jack, his sand saying

"_Of course we're friends. Do you see anyone else that I allow to play with my sand? Well... the others can't really touch it without falling asleep, but still!_"

Jack brightened, uncurling, "Could you maybe help me with my powers? I want to experiment but I don't want anyone besides you knowing."

Sandy nodded, pulling Jack along, "_Come see, Come see!_" Sandy gathered up his magic and built a boat and the two sailed the skies before arriving at Sandy's home.

"Whoa!" Jack spun around as he disembarked.


End file.
